Perceptions of Sustainability Sustainability is the paradigm of our age.i Architects, urban planners, real estate developers, technology companies, college campuses, food distributors, nearly everyone is doing it. Regrettably, conversation surrounding sustainability is commonly directed at one, shallow resolve: proclaiming whether something is or is not sustainable. Use these biodegradable sponges, they’re sustainable! Don’t buy a […]
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Reforming the MTA
Please feel free to view my Capstone: Bridging the Transportation Finance Gap: Planning Beyond Boundaries for a Connected 21st Century Please also feel free to view my Senior Honors Thesis: (Re)New Your City, New York City: Transporting Transformation Hubs New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is constantly running trains, but it is also constantly running […]
Art and Healing
I recently spent a week at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota to be with my brother who was having a surgery. I was restless and had plenty of time at hand to walk the many corridors connecting the hospitals’ wings. Luckily, the Mayo Clinic has an amazing collection of artwork, thoughtfully curated and displayed […]
Enabling Communities to Build Their Own Plazas
All over the country more and more cities are catching on to the idea that public space can be created quickly and cheaply; expensive master plans are becoming a thing of the past. Typically a community partner—a business improvement district or non-profit community organization—can apply through the municipality to transform an excessive roadway into […]
Flemish Government Architect’s Office Abolished
As austerity measures sweep across the European continent, the freshly installed Flemish government abolished the position of Vlaams Bouwmeester, or Flemish Government Architect, last month. This news follows after the City of Antwerp had abolished the position of Stadsbouwmeester, or City Architect last year. Though it is difficult to translate this job title, the Vlaams […]
BANG, WHIR, VROOM! The Arrogance and Vulnerability of Italian Futurism
To be affiliated with the cultural wave that was Futurism in Italy in the early 20th Century was to signify an unabashed optimism and join a call to arms to reshape, rethink, and rebrand everything that was contemporary life – photography, theater, music, art, politics, architecture, even toys. Championed by its tireless leader, Marinetti, from […]
On Love: Socrates Sculpture Park
Because of the well-documented, highly complex relationship between the world and humankind’s sensation and perception of it, I am of the opinion that even relatively simple messages are often exceptionally hard to convey. As such, any tool used for the communicative purposes of conveying such a feeling or message, should, if deployed successfully, subtly suggest […]
A Love Letter To Flemish Cities
I’ve recently become enamored with the historic cities of Flandres, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. Whilst I used to only pass through Flandres in the past, often on my way to France, I first discovered Flemish cities on a study trip to the region in 2007. Wandering through places like Bruges or Ghent with a […]
A Love Letter to Austin
Dear Austin, Though it’s been some time since we were last together, I find myself wandering back to your memory during the cold vortex evenings in New York. We were a classic case of opposites attract. Me, the seasoned urbanite and native New Yorker accustomed to high density design, a 24-hour transit system and excellent […]
Is the architect an artist?
By Alyssa Campbell Is the architect an artist or is he simply the creator of functional buildings? John Ruskin, a famous architectural writer, once remarked, “No person who is not a great sculptor or painter can be an architect. If he is not a sculptor or painter, he can only be a builder.” (1) From […]
